Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann said that the lack of financial leverage compared to some other European clubs is the reason why his team is the only German club to have qualified for the Champions League knockout round this season.

The rest of the German football representatives in the Champions League exited from the continental competition early this season, as Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund moved to play in the European League, while Wolfsburg bid farewell to the continental championships this season, after bottoming its group in the Champions League group stage.

Muller fulfills his promise and opens the scoring against Barcelona 🔥# Champions League # Bayern_ Barcelona # beINUCL # UCL pic.twitter.com/izj637tG01

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 8, 2021

Bayern Munich is the only qualifier for the Champions League

All representatives of German football in the Champions League (Bayern, Dortmund, Leipzig, Borussia Moenchengladbach) passed the group stage in the championship last season, while the Bavarian team won the title the previous season, which also saw Leipzig qualified for the semi-finals, when Nagelsmann was at the helm of his leadership. artistic.

"I would have been happy if many German teams had gone up to the playoffs," said Nagelsmann, 34, after Bayern's 3-0 victory over Barcelona on Wednesday, to also topple the Catalan team from the tournament.

"Even as a Bayern Munich team, we don't have very easy conditions in major European football. This affects clubs that may be less ranked more. It's not that easy," Nagelsmann explained.

Watch Leroy Sane's rocket 🎯👌

Sani doubles the pain of Barcelona!

😬

In your opinion, is Barcelona able to return to the match?

🤔# European_Champions League #Barcelona_Munich #Barcelona pic.twitter.com/RRTpZJsDaz

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 8, 2021

50+1 . rule

While Chelsea (the defending champions) and last season's runner-up, compatriot Manchester City, as well as France's Paris Saint-Germain, the finalists for the 2019-20 season, are backed by the wealth of their owners, German teams are constrained by the so-called 50+1 rule.

This means that no shareholder can own the majority of the club's shares, and Wolfsburg currently has an exception, as they started as a team for the (Volkswagen) carmaker, while Leipzig's ownership was complex with some support from the (Red Bull) energy drink company.

But even with this support, these clubs cannot look to compete effectively with the elite teams of the old continent in the transfer market, as Dortmund has become one of the clubs that sells its players more than it brings in new deals lately.

Following the German national team's early exit from the European Nations Cup (Euro 2020) last summer, there was a lot of self-research to be done.

How did the German teams come out?

Wolfsburg is bottom of his group, which included French Lille, Austrian Red Bull Salzburg and Spain's Seville, and failed to qualify for the championship last season.

And Wolfsburg suffered from the faltering of its results in the recent period after the departure of coach Oliver Glasner from the team before the start of the current season, and Mark van Bommel only lasted a few months in the leadership, and the new coach, Florian Kovelt, had no experience in dealing with the Champions League.

Kovelt revealed that Wolfsburg missed a "historic opportunity" with a surprise 1-3 loss to its guest Lille, who topped Group G.

It was enough for Wolfsburg to win any result to obtain the nomination paper for the final price, but the lackluster performance and the attendance of only 6544 spectators in the stands, due to the precautionary measures taken against the Corona virus, contributed to incurring that painful defeat, and the loss of this opportunity.

"We were simply not ready for the Champions League," Kovelt told German broadcaster ZDF.

Leipzig's 5-0 victory over Club Brugge, and 1-2 over Manchester City, in its last two matches in Group A, was not enough to reach the playoffs in the tournament.

The same applies to Dortmund, who crushed their Turkish guest Besiktas 5-0 in their last match in the third group of the competition on Tuesday, but this victory came too late, to occupy third place in the group standings, and move to the European League.

Bayern outperforms

Although Bayern proved in 2020 that even their slightly lower potential compared to the richest clubs does not stand in the way of success, good training and a good team dynamic can make the difference.

Bayern, who has monopolized the German league title (Bundesliga) in the last nine seasons, is still a source of concern for all European clubs.

Kroos scores in his own way!

🎯⚽️# Champions League # Real Madrid Inter # Real Madrid pic.twitter.com/XNWU9JAiNE

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 7, 2021

For his part, Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci said, "It would be hypocritical to say that Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Liverpool have nothing more than us."

Indeed, Bonucci's choice of Bayern in first place will give some comfort to German football.